> On Oct 18, 1:44pm, Peter Merel wrote:
> > Subject: Re: OmniGo 100 specs
> >
> > Bloody hell, this thing's a toy. I'm hanging on to my zoomer. The
> > *only* improvement is a landscape mode for the screen, but with such a
> > little display there's not much point - can't even fit 80 columns of
> > text across it! And where's the 386? And no flash cards? And
> > what's the battery life like with only 2 AAs? Looks to me like HP's
> > just trying to preserve the shelf-life of their 200LX :-(
> >
> > What does this half-a-zoomer cost? Hey, "the omer", where have I heard
> > that before?
>
> I agree. The 240x240 screen size (Zoomers are 320x256) is a big problem,
> and I think that 1MB of RAM is silly given the increase in RAM density
> since the Zoomer's introduction. The '186 processor is the same thing
> they're using in other products while they await some new chips from AMD
> (see previous zoomer-list mail about that). The list price is $349.
>
> On the other hand, I like the packaging (and thought I wouldn't), the
> rotated display is very nice (anyone know how to do that with GEOS
> 2.X?), and I imagine that the bundled software has many improvements
> over the Zoomer's bundled software.
>
The choice of screen size seems practical when you consider this:
The unit is smaller. A larger screen would have taken up valuable space
and require more power to operate. Second, They needed a square
screen. Why? How do you think they are able to rotate it? I suspect
the screen rotation is more hardware-oriented than software. A square
screen makes this more practical.
With regards to the '186 processor remember that it is a 16mhz
processor. This is more than double that of the Zoomer. I'd kill for
a "clock-doubled" zoomer. ;-) Also, because the screen is smaller, the
processing overhead is reduced which increases performance. Try to
imagine a Zoomer trying to drive an SVGA screen. We would still be
waiting for it to boot!
While I agree that the screen seems small, I think it was a good
compromise in order to achieve the intended functionality and performance.
> Still, it seems to be crying for an upgraded model right away, not
> unlike the HP95LX was when it was introduced. Or, perhaps H-P really is
> positioning it as a toy -- it's their first "organizer", after all --
> and they don't want to chew into their market for the OmniGo 700 and
> other new DOS-based stuff.
>
I agree. First release machines typically scream for upgrades. Don't
forget, though, this is an "organizer", not a palmtop. They specifically
state that in their literature. For now, I'm sticking with my Zoomer
with hopes that some of the apps developed for the OmniGo will be
compatible with my Zoomer. (Why not...the Zoomer can accommodate the
screen, and it does use GEOS!)
> So now I'm waiting for the OmniGo 110 :-). Anyone have any rumors to
> share about that?
>
> --
> Brian Smithson brian@eit.com
> Enterprise Integration Technologies (415)617-8009
> 800 El Camino Real FAX (415)462-6369
> Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA http://www.eit.com/
>
>
-Jim
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